Candidates are making their final pitches for support in Oak Bluffs as campaigns for town selectman wind down this week.

In the only contested race on the town ballot, five people are vying for two seats on the board of selectmen. Incumbents Kathleen Burton and Gregory Coogan and newcomers Brian Packish, Abraham Seiman, and Raymond Taylor are all in the running. Also at the polls, voters will weigh in on the topic of whether to stop fluoridating the water supply.

The election is next Thursday at the town public library. Polling hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

There are five selectmen in Oak Bluffs. They serve three-year terms as the town’s chief elected officials.

Gregory Coogan, the current chairman, is seeking a fifth term on the board. His colleague, Kathleen Burton, wants a third term.

In phone interviews with Gazette this week, both incumbents said they were running on the town’s recent financial successes.

After years of struggles, Mr. Coogan said the town is now in good shape financially.

“I think people are most assured by the financial situation right now and I feel like they think it’s being managed well,” he said. A retired schoolteacher, Mr. Coogan has lived in town since 1972. He said his first priority as a selectman is continuing to manage the town budget responsibly. He’s also looking to improve the town’s infrastructure, promote the downtown as a destination and tend to concerns about the conditions of the town beaches.

“We have been trying to keep our beaches open and in good shape, but the fierce forces of nature make that difficult year in and year out,” he said. During his tenure, he said he’s been a reasonable voice and a good listener. “Hopefully people will say, he is a pretty solid voice on the board and we should keep him on there,” he said.

Ms. Burton also cited the recent accomplishments of her board, including capital and grant-funded projects and an overall commitment to fiscal responsibility. While the town’s finances have improved in recent years, a persistent threat is increasing school spending. As a parent of an Oak Bluffs School alumna, Ms. Burton said she understands the value of the education the town provides but also sees a need to manage school spending going forward. She also called sewering a priority for the town, as well as improving communication with the public.

A year-round resident since 1993, she works at Santander Bank in Edgartown as the branch manager. Prior to that, she worked in the real estate, computer software and education fields. She said her varied professional background has made her a good listener and a good researcher. “I take a common sense approach to issues,” she said. “I care about receiving input and I do that as I go about the town. I am always asking what people think about what is going on, and I think I am approachable in that regard.”

The three candidates challenging Mr. Coogan and Mr. Burton are looking for change.

Among the challengers, Abe Seiman will be a familiar name on the ballot. Last year, Mr. Seiman won 343 votes in the general election, but ultimately fell to current selectmen Michael Santoro and Walter Vail, who kept their seats. This year, he’s running again because he’d like to see changes in the budget process and in the way the town communicates with voters.

“I’d like to get more of the voters involved in making the decisions,” he said. A six-year veteran of the finance and advisory committee, Mr. Seiman said he’d like to set up a check and balance system between the committee and the selectmen when it comes to the budget. Currently, the committee reviews the annual budget and issues recommendations but cannot veto it. He’d like to see the committee assume “more of a voting power” rather than just an advisory role, he said. “They’d have two bodies looking at the same budget and there would just be people who are looking at it from both perspectives,” he said.

Another finance and advisory committee member, Raymond Taylor, is also hoping to drum up support for fiscal reform. A driver for Cape Cod Express trucking, Mr. Taylor says he’ll represent the working class resident and will promote initiatives that save taxpayers money. “Right now the town is facing some big financial issues,” he said. “There is a tremendous amount of pressure on the town finances in trying to live within the limits of Proposition 2 1/ 2 [the state tax cap law].”

Last year, school spending forced the town to ask voters to approve a $600,000 override to the annual tax levy. But Mr. Taylor said the situation would have been worse if not for the work he and his committee colleagues did to lower the initial override ask of $1.1 million. “We had a real impact on taxpayers,” he said.

Fiscal conservatism aside, he said his half-black, half-white racial background will bring diversity to the board. He said it’s important to embrace the town’s diversity. More than two decades ago, that’s what prompted him to settle in Oak Bluffs, he said. “This felt like one place where I belonged,” he said.

The fifth candidate is Oak Bluffs native Brian Packish, the current chairman of the town planning board. The change Mr. Packish would like to see centers around communication with voters, which he said could be improved. “I feel like we could do a better job with outreach and more process and bringing people to the table in a different way where they can feel their opinions are valued and heard, and by doing that, I think we could make some very great changes in Oak Bluffs,” he said.

He said the 80 days he’s spent on the campaign trail, knocking on doors and sitting at kitchen tables, have confirmed a hunch that citizens don’t feel heard. “I am hearing systematically that people are not heard,” he said. “They feel their input is not valued.” If elected, he said a long-term goal would be to promote quality of life and livability and “a tax rate that we can all afford.” He also said ensuring the cleanliness of town beaches would be important, as voters have repeatedly expressed concern over the state of the Inkwell and Pay Beaches. “Fiscal responsibility takes precedent, but at the same time, if you have all your ducks and dollars in a row and there is no quality of life at the end, that is problematic,” he said.

Mr. Packish cited 20 years of experience operating a landscape construction business as another qualification for the selectman job. “Being self-employed, in a fairly reasonably sized company, I have to make choices and the accountability falls on me,” he said. In addition to the planning board, he serves on the roads and byways committee and the joint Oak Bluffs and Tisbury wastewater committee. While he’s only recently claimed a seat at the table, he said he hasn’t missed a town meeting since age 15.

“I have participated, I just haven’t participated on this level,” he said.

Also on the ballot is a nonbinding question about whether to stop fluoridating town water.

The Oak Bluffs water district has been fluoridating the public water supply since April 1991, and is the only town on the Island to fluoridate its water supply. Now the board of health is considering ending fluoridation, and seeks guidance from voters.